LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


i 


WORLDLY 

WISDOM 

from 

ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN 


S 


Edited   and  Arranged 

By   F.  S.  BIGELOW 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY    ALTEMUS    COMPANY 


PUBLISHER'S   NOTE 

Several  of  the  paragraphs  in  this  little  volume 

are  used  through  the  courtesy  of  The 

Century  Company,  publishers 

of  the  complete  works  of 

Abraham   Lincoln. 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
Howard  E.  Altemus 


oi 


^   WORLDLY    WISDOM 

FROM 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


.^ 


ir 


MAN    cannot    prove 

a    negative,    but  he 

has  a  right  to  claim 

that    when    a    man 

makes    an   affirmative    charge, 

he  must  offer  some  proof. 

Towering  genius  disdains  a 
beaten  path. 


86792  I 


^ 


ffl 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


A  N    honest    laborer   digs 
/  %       coal  at  about  seventy 
-Z       JL    cents    a    day,   while 
the     President    digs 
abstractions  at  about  seventy  dol- 
lars a  day.      The  coal  is  clearly 
worth  more  than  the   abstract- 
ions, and  yet  what  a  monstrous 
inequality  in  the  prices!     Does 
the   President,  for  this   reason, 
propose   to   abolish   the    Presi- 
dency?    He  does  not,    and  he 
ought  not. 

Si  =^ 


Pi  11 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

A  MAN  watches  his 
pear-tree  day  after 
day,  impatient  for 
the  ripening  of  the 
fruit.  Let  him  attempt  to 
force  the  process,  and  he  may 
spoil  both  fruit  and  tree.  But 
let  him  patiently  wait^  and  the 
ripe  fruit  at  length  falls  into 
his  lap. 

*  Gold  is  good  in  its  place; 
hut  living,  brave  and  patriotic 
men  are  better  than  gold. 


1 


IPI  II 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

jA    LL     the     armies    of 

/  %        Europe,    Asia,     and 

1        m      Africa    combined, 

with  all  the  treasure 

of  the  earth  (our  own  excepted) 

in  their  military  chest,  with  a 

Bonaparte    for    a   commander, 

could  not  by  force  take  a  drink 

from  the  Ohio  or  make  a  track 

on  the   Blue   Ridge  in  a  trial 

of  a  thousand  years. 

Hisses  will  not  blow   down 
the  walls  of  justice. 


1 


6 


Pi  11 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

DEFINITION    of 

general  popular  sov- 
ereignty, in  the 
abstract,  would  be 
about  this — that  each  man 
shall  do  precisely  as  he  pleases 
with  himself,  and  with  all 
those  things  which  exclusively 
concern  him.  Applied  to 
Government,  this  principle 
would  be,  that  a  General  Gov- 
ernment shall  do  all  those 
things  which  pertain  to  it,  and 
all  local  governments  shall   do 


M 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

precisely  as  they  please  in 
respect  to  those  matters  which 
exclusively  concern  them. 

They  [the  Revolutionary 
fathers]  were  pillars  of  the 
temple  of  liberty;  and  now 
that  they  have  crumbled  away, 
that  temple  must  fall  unless 
we,  their  descendants,  supply 
their  places  with  other  pillars, 
hewn  from  the  solid  quarry  of 
sober  reason. 

8 


p 


ir 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

BY  general  law,  life  and 
limb    must    be  pro- 
tected;    yet  often  a 
limb  must  be  ampu- 
tated to  save  a  life;    but  a   life 
is  never    wisely  given  to  save 
a  limb. 

Let  us  renew  our  trust  in 
God,  and  go  forward  without 
fear  and  with  manly  hearts. 

If  I  have  risen,  why  should 
any  be  hindered  from  rising  ? 


« 


M 


9 


Ipl  ITO 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ONCEDE  that  the 
new  government  of 
Louisiana  is  only  to 
what  it  should  be  as 
the  egg  is  to  the  fowl,  we 
shall  sooner  have  the  fowl  by- 
hatching  the  egg  than  by 
smashing  it. 

It  may  seem  strange  that 
any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a 
just  God's  assistance  in  wringing 
his  bread  from  the  sweat  of 
other  men's  faces. 


^ 


10 


f  I  If 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

DI E    when    I    may,   I 
want  it  said   of  me 
by  those  who  know 
me    best,     that    I 
always    plucked    a    thistle  and 
planted     a     flower    where    I 
thought  a  flower  would  grow. 

The  man  who  stands  by  and 
says  nothing,  when  the  peril 
of  his  Government  is  discussed, 
cannot  be  misunderstood.  If 
not  hindered,  he  is  sure  to 
help  the  enemy. 


11 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

DISCOURAGE  litiga- 
tion. Persuade  your 
neighbors  to  com- 
promise whenever 
you  can.  Point  out  to  them 
how  the  nominal  winner  is 
often  a  real  loser — in  fees, 
expenses,  and  waste  of  time. 
As  a  peacemaker  the  lawyer 
has  a  superior  opportunity 
of  being  a  good  man. 
There  will  still  be  business 
enough. 

12 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IF  in  your  iudgment  you 
cannot  be  an  honest 
lawyer,  resolve  to  be 
honest  without  being  a 
lawyer.  Choose  some  other 
occupation,  rather  than  one  in 
the  choosing  of  which  you  do, 
in  advance,  consent  to  be  a 
knave. 

One  man  is  offended  because 
a  road  passes  over  his  land,  and 
another  is  offended  because  it 
does  not  pass  over  his. 


^ 


-A 


13 


& 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I  HOLD  if  the  Almighty 
had  ever  made  a  set  of 
men  that  should  do  all 
the  eating  and  none  of 
the  work,  he  would  have 
made  them  with  mouths  only, 
and  no  hands;  and  if  he  had 
ever  made  another  class,  that 
he  had  intended  should  do 
all  the  work  and  none  of  the 
eating,  he  would  have  made 
them  without  mouths  and  with 
all  hands. 


5 


14 


£ 


w\  m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

F  I  send  a  man  to  buy  a 
horse  for  me,  I  expect 
him    to     tell     me     his 

^^ points^ ^    not    how 

many  hairs  there  are  in  his  tail. 

I  would  not  take  any  risk 
of  being  entangled  ....  like 
an  ox  jumped  half  over  a  fence 
and  liable  to  be  torn  by  dogs 
front  and  rear  without  a  fair 
chance  to  gore  one  way  or  to 
kick  the  other. 


15 


p 


ir 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I  UNDERSTAND  the 
ship  to  be  made  for  the 
carrying  and  the  preser- 
vation of  the  cargo;  and, 
so  long  as  the  ship  can  be 
saved  with  the  cargo,  it  should 
never  be  abandoned,  unless  it 
fails  the  possibility  of  its  pres- 
ervation, and  shall  cease  to 
exist,  except  at  the  risk  of 
throwing  overboard  both  freight 
and  passengers.  So  long,  then, 
as  it  is  possible  that  the  pros- 
perity and  the  liberties  of  the 


16 


Ipl  1^ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

people  be  preserved  in  this 
Union,  it  shall  be  my  purpose, 
at  all  times,  to  use  all  my  pow- 
ers to  aid  in  its  perpetuation. 

Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost 
by  taking  time.  If  there  be 
an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you, 
in  hot  haste,  to  a  step  which 
you  would  never  take  deliber- 
ately, that  object  will  be  frus- 
trated by  taking  time;  but  no 
good  object  can  be  frustrated 
by  it. 


^ 


2— Worldly  WiMdom  — Lincoln.  17 


m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IT'S  the  people^  s  business, — 
the    election    is  in   their 
hands.   If  they  turn  their 
backs  to  the  fire,  and  get 
scorched  in  the  rear,  they'll  find 
they    have    got    to    sit   on   the 
blister ! 


i^ 


I  have  found  that  when  one 
is  embarrassed,  usually  the 
shortest  way  to  get  through 
with  it  is  to  quit  talking  or 
thinking  about  it,  and  go  at 
something  else. 


ii 


18 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IF  you  would  win  a  man  to 
your  cause,  first  convince 
him  that  you  are  his 
sincere  friend.  Therein 
is  a  drop  of  honey  that  catches 
his  heart,  which,  say  what  he 
will,  is  the  great  highroad  to 
his  reason,  and  which,  when 
once  gained,  you  will  find  but 
little  trouble  in  convincing  his 
judgment  of  the  justice  of  your 
cause,  if  indeed  that  cause  really 
be  a  just  one.  On  the  contrary, 
assume  to  dictate  to  his  judg- 
ment,  or    to    command    his 


m 


^ 


19 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

action,  or  ^to  mark  him  as  one 
to  be  shunned  and  despised, 
and  he  will  retreat  within  him- 
self, close  all  the  avenues  to  his 
head  and  his  heart ;  and  though 
your  cause  be  naked  truth  itself, 
transformed  to  the  heaviest 
lance,  harder  than  steel,  and 
sharper  than  steel  can  be  made, 
and  though  you  throw  it  with 
more  than  herculean  force  and 
precision,  you  shall  be  no  more 
able  to  pierce  him  than  to 
penetrate  the  hard  shell  of  a 
tortoise  with  a  rye  straw. 


m 


-M 


20 


m 


m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I  WOULD  despise  myself 
if  I  supposed  myself  ready 
to  deal  less  liberally  with 
an  adversary  than   I   was 

willing  to  be  treated  myself. 

When  a  man  hears  himself 
somewhat  misrepresented,  it 
provokes  him — at  least,  I  find 
it  so  with  myself;  but  when 
misrepresentation  becomes  very 
gross  and  palpable,  it  is  more 
apt  to  amuse  him. 


21 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I  BELIEVE  each  individual 
is  naturally  entitled  to  do 
as  he  pleases  with  himself 
and  the  fruit  of  his  labor, 
so  far  as  it  in  no  wise  interferes 
with  any  other    man's  rights. 

We  can  succeed  only  by 
concert.  It  is  not  **  Can  any 
of  us  imagine  better?*'  but, 
**  Can  we  all  do  better  ?'' 

Important  principles  must 
be  inflexible. 

£2 


w 


m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IF  I  saw  a  venomous  snake 
crawling  in  the  road,  any 
man  would  say  I  might 
seize  the  nearest  stick  and 
kill  it;  but  if  I  found  that 
snake  in  bed  with  my  children, 
that  would  be  another  question. 
I  might  hurt  the  children  more 
than  the  snake,  and  it  might 
bite  them.  Much  more,  if  I 
found  it  in  bed  with  my  neigh- 
bor's children,  and  I  had  bound 
myself  by  a  solemn  compact 
not  to  meddle  with  his  children 


ill  „       ^ 


Pi  w 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

under  any  circumstances,  it 
would  become  me  to  let  that 
particular  mode  of  getting  rid 
of  the  gentleman  alone.  But 
if  there  was  a  bed  newly  made 
up,  to  which  the  children  were 
to  be  taken,  and  it  was  pro- 
posed to  take  a  batch  of  young 
snakes  and  put  them  there  with 
them,  I  take  it  no  man  would 
say  there  was  any  question  how 
I  ought  to  decide! 

The  plainest  print  cannot  be 
read  through  a  gold  eagle. 


Ji 


24 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I  SAY,  that,  whereas  God 
Almighty  has  given  every 
man  one  mouth  to  be 
fed,  and  one  pair  of  hands 
adapted  to  furnish  food  for  that 
mouth,  if  any  thing  can  be 
proved  to  be  the  will  of  Heaven, 
it  is  proved  by  this  fact,  that 
that  mouth  is  to  be  fed  by 
those  hands,  without  being 
interfered  with  by  any  other 
man,  who  has  also  his  mouth 
to  feed,  and  his  hands  to 
labor  with. 


^ 


■a 


25 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I    HAVE  said  nothing  but 
what    I    am    wilhng    to 
live  by,  and  if  it  be  the 
pleasure    of    Almighty 
God,   die  by, 

I  am  not  bound  to  win,  but 
I  am  bound  to  be  true.  I  am 
not  bound  to  succeed,  but  I 
am  bound  to  live  up  to  the 
light  I   have. 

I  am  nothing,  but  Truth  is 
everything. 


m 


26 


-^ 


p 


s 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I  CAN  no  more  be  per- 
suaded that  the  Govern- 
ment can  constitutionally 
take  no  strong  measures 
in  time  of  rebellion,  because 
it  can  be  shown  that  the  same 
could  not  be  lawfully  taken  in 
time  of  peace,  than  I  can  be 
persuaded  that  a  particular 
drug  is  not  good  medicine  for 
a  sick  man,  because  it  can  be 
shown  not  to  be  good  food  for 
a  well  one. 

LU 

27 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IN   times    like   the    present 
men  should  utter  nothing 
for  which  they  would  not 
willingly   be    responsible 
through  time  and  in  eternity. 

/  must  study  the  plain ^  phys- 
ical facts   of  the  case^  ascertain 

what  is  possible,  and  learn  what 

appears  to  be  wise  and  right. 

I  shall  do  nothing  in  malice. 
What  I  deal  with  is  too  vast 
for  malicious  dealing. 

[Bill  \m 

->  28 


p- 


£ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IT  has  been  said,  *'all  that 
a  man  hath  he  will  give 
for  his  life;"  and,  while 
all  contribute  to  their 
substance,  the  soldier  puts  his 
life  at  stake,  and  often  yields 
it  up  in  his  country's  cause. 
The  highest  merit,  then,  is 
due  the  soldier. 

I  claim  not  to  have  con- 
trolled events,  but  confess 
plainly  that  events  have  con- 
trolled me. 


m 


^ 


29 


Pi  1^ 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

JUDICIAL  decisions  have 
two  uses:    First,   To   ab- 
solutely    determine     the 
case  decided;     and,  Sec- 
ondly, To  indicate  to  the  pub- 
lic how  other  similar  cases  will 
be  decided  when  they  arise. 

May  the  vast  future  not 
have  to  lament  that  you  have 
neglected  it! 

The  proneness  of  prosperity 
is  to  breed  tyrants. 

SO 


PI  l1 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IET  reverence  for  the  laws 
be  breathed  by  every 
-^  American  mother  to 
the  lisping  babe  that 
prattles  on  her  lap ;  let  it  be 
taught  in  schools,  in  seminaries, 
and  in  colleges;  let  it  be  writ- 
ten in  primers,  spelling-books, 
and  in  almanacs;  let  it  be 
preached  from  the  pulpit,  pro- 
claimed in  legislative  halls,  and 
enforced  in  courts  of  justice. 
And,  in  short,  let  it  become 
the    political    religion    of   the 

81 


m 


^ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

nation;  and  let  the  old  and  the 
young,  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  grave  and  the  gay  of  all 
sexes  and  tongues  and  colors 
and  conditions,  sacrifice  unceas- 
ingly upon  its  altars. 

No  work  —  no  object — can 
be  so  general  as  to  dispense  its 
benefits  with   precise  equality. 

Bad  promises  are  better 
broken  than  kept. 

32 


m\  m 


n 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

LET     US    have      that     faith 
that     right      makes 
^     might,    and    in    that 
faith    let    us,    to    the 
end,   dare    to    do   our    duty   as 
we  understand  it. 

Let  no  man  who  is  house- 
less pull  down  the  house  of 
another,  but  let  him  labor 
diligently  and  build  one  for 
himself,  thus  by  example  assur- 
ing that  his  own  will  be  safe 
from  violence  when  built. 


IBhl  \M 


3— Worldly)  Wiadom  — Lincoln.  33 


ip 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IABOR  is  the  superior  of 
capital,  and  deserves 
^  much  the  higher  con- 
sideration. Capital 
has  its  rights,  which  are  as 
worthy  of  protection  as  any 
other  rights.  Nor  is  it  denied 
that  there  is,  and  probably 
always  will  be,  a  relation  be- 
tween labor  and  capital,  pro- 
ducing mutual  benefits. 

Broken     eggs     cannot    be 
mended. 


« 


^ 


34 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

IET  the  nation  take  hold 
of  the  larger  works, 
J  and  the  States  the 
smaller  ones;  and 
thus,  working  in  a  meeting 
direction,  discreetly,  but  steadily 
and  firmly,  what  is  made  unequal 
in  one  place  may  be  equalized  in 
another,  extravagance  avoided, 
and  the  whole  country  put  on 
that  career  of  prosperity  which 
shall  correspond  with  its  extent 
of  territory,  its  natural  re- 
sources, and  the  intelligence 
and  enterprise  of    its    people. 


m 


^ 


35 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

NEVER  stir  up  litiga- 
tion.      A     worse 
man     can     scarcely 
be  found  than  one 
who   does  this. 

Advancement  —  improve- 
ment  in  condition  —  is  the 
order  of  things  in  a  society 
of  equals. 

Why,  as  to  improvements, 
magnify  the  evil^  and  stoutly 
refuse  to  see  any  good  in  them  ? 


36 


p 


ir 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

NO  men  living  are  more 
worthy  to  be  trusted 
than  those  who  toil 
up    from    poverty; 
none  less    inclined   to   take  or 
touch  aught  which  they  have 
not  honestly  earned. 

The  true  rule,  in  determin- 
ing to  embrace  or  reject  any 
thing,  is  not  whether  it  have 
any  evil  in  it,  but  whether 
it  have  more  of  evil  than 
of  good. 


^ 


37 


Pi  1*51 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

OUR    people    are    fast 
approaching     the 
point  where  it  can 
be  said    that    seven- 
eighths  of  them  are   trying  to 
find    out   how   to   live   at    the 
expense  of   the  other    eighth. 

The  smallest  are  often  the 
most  difficult  things  to  deal 
with. 

Were  it  not  for  an  occa- 
sional joke,  I  should  die. 

38 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

OUR  government  rests 
in    public    opinion. 
Whoever  can  change 
public    opinion  can 
change   the  government  prac- 
tically just  so  much. 

As  to  the  young  men.  You 
must  not  wait  to  be  brought 
forward  by  the  older  men. 
For  instance,  do  you  suppose 
that  I  should  ever  have  got 
into  notice  if  I  had  waited  to 
be  hunted  up  and  pushed  for- 
ward by  older  men? 


m 


1 


39 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

PERSISTING     in     a 
charge  which  one  does 
not  know    to   be   true, 
is    simply     malicious 
slander. 

If  both  factions,  or  neither, 
shall  abuse  you,  you  will  prob- 
ably be  about  right.  Beware 
of  being  assailed  by  one,  and 
praised  by  the  other. 

It  is  not  best  to  swap  horses 
while  crossing  the  river. 


^ 


40 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

REPEAL    the    Missouri 
Compromise;  repeal 
k^     all  compromise;   re- 
peal the  Declaration 
of    Independence;      repeal    all 
past  history,  —  you  still  cannot 
repeal  human  nature. 

I  do  not  want  to  issue  a 
document  that  the  whole  world 
will  see  must  necessarily  be 
inoperative,  like  the  Pope's 
bull  against  the  comet. 


m 


^ 


41 


m 


Bbr 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

STAND   with    anybody 
that   stands    right. 
Stand  with  him  while 
he  is  right,  and  part 
with  him  when  he  goes  wrong. 

I  could  scarcely  credit  that  I, 
a  poor  boy,  had  earned  a  dollar 
in  less  than  a  day, — that  by 
honest  work  I  had  earned  a  dol- 
lar. The  world  seemed  wider 
and  fairer  before  me.  I  was 
a  more  hopeful  and  confident 
being  from  that  time. 


^ 


43 


p 


^ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

SLAVERY  is  founded  in 
the  selfishness  of  man's 
nature;  opposition  to 
it,  in  his  love  of  justice. 
These  principles  are  an  eternal 
antagonism;  and  when  brought 
into  collision,  so  fiercely  as 
slavery  extension  brings  them, 
shocks,  throes,  and  convulsions 
must  ceaselessly  follow. 

People  of  any  color  seldom 
run  unless  there  be  something 
to  run  from. 


m 


48 


B^ 


m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE    purposes   of    the 
Almighty  are  perfect 
and    must    prevail, 
though    we    erring 
mortals   may  fail  to  accurately 
perfect  them  in  advance. 

God  must  like  the  common 
people,  or  he  would  not  have 
made  so  many  of  them. 

The  dogmas  of  the  quiet 
past  are  inadequate  to  the 
stormy  present. 

44 


Pi  i^ 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  shepherd  drives 
the  wolf  from  the 
sheep's  throat,  for 
which  the  sheep 
thanks  the  shepherd  as  a  liber- 
ator; while  the  wolf  denounces 
him,  for  the  same  act,  as  the 
destroyer  of  liberty,  especially 
as  the  sheep  was  a  black  one. 
Plainly,  the  sheep  and  the  wolf 
are  not  agreed  upon  the  word 
" liberty'*;  and  precisely  the 
same  difference  prevails  to-day 
among    us     human     creatures, 

Kl  l3i 

45 


Pi  i^ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

even    in    the    North,   and    all 
professing  to  love  liberty. 

It  has  been  said  that  one  bad 
general  is  better  than  two  good 
ones;  and  the  saying  is  true,  if 
taken  to  mean  no  more  than 
that  an  army  is  better  directed 
by  a  single  mind,  though  in- 
ferior, than  by  two  superior 
ones  at  variance  and  cross-pur- 
poses with  each  other. 


^ 


46 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

TO    remove    a    man  is 
very  easy,   but    when 
I     go     to      fill     his 
place  there  are  twenty 
applicants,  and  of  these  I  must 
make  nineteen  enemies. 

The   Government  must  not 
undertake  to  run  the  churches. 

War,  at  the  best,  is  terrible. 

One  war  at  a  time. 


m 


^ 


47 


Pi  i^ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  Saviour,  I  suppose, 
did  not  expect  that 
any  human  creature 
could  be  perfect  as 
the  Father  in  Heaven;  but 
He  said,  *'As  your  Father  in 
Heaven  is  perfect,  be  ye  also 
perfect."  He  set  that  up  as  a 
standard,  and  he  who  did  most 
toward  reaching  that  standard 
attained  the  highest  degree  of 
moral  perfection. 

Keep  pegging  away. 


48 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THERE    may    be  .  .  . 
dangers;   but   I   guess 
it   wouldn't   improve 
things  any  to  publish 
that  we    were  afraid   of  them 
in  advance. 

We  don't  read  that  Hannibal 
had  any  money  to  prosecute  his 
wars  with. 

I  choose  always  to  make  my 
'^statute  of  limitations"  a 
short  one. 


m\  \m 


4—WoTldh  WUiom— Lincoln.  49 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

HERE'S    a    mighty 

amount  of    character 

in  sticks.  .  .  .      Have 

you  ever  noticed  how 

a    stick    in    one's     hand     will 

change   his  appearatnce? 

A  jury  too  frequently  has  at 
least  one  member  more  ready 
to  hang  the  panel  than  to 
hang  the  traitor. 

I  can't  take  pay  for  doing 
my   duty. 


m 


■M 


50 


Pi  t-^ 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THERE  is  not  a  more 
fatal  error  to  young 
lawyers  than  relying 
too  much  on  speech- 
making.  If  any  one,  upon  his 
rare  powers  of  speaking,  shall 
claim  an  exemption  from  the 
drudgery  of  the  law,  his  case 
is  a  failure  in  advance. 

My  old  father  used  to  have 
a  saying  that  **If  you  make  a 
bad  bargain,  hug  it  all  the 
tighter." 


^ 


51 


w- 


& 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  prudent,  penniless 
beginner  in  the  world 
labors  for  wages  for 
awhile,  saves  a  surplus 
with  which  to  buy  tools  or 
land  for  himself,  then  labors 
for  himself  another  while,  and 
at  length  hires  another  new 
beginner  to  help  him.  This 
is  the  just,  and  generous,  and 
prosperous  system,  which  opens 
the  way  to  all,  gives  hope  to 
all,  and  consequent  energy,  and 
progress,  and  improvement  of 
condition  to  all. 


M 


53 


m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  way  for  a  young 
man  to  rise  is  to  im- 
prove   himself   every 
way    he    can,    never 
suspecting  that  anybody  wishes 
to  hinder  him. 

Allow  me  to  assure  you  that 
suspicion  and  jealousy  never  did 
help  any  man  in  any  situation. 

There  is  no  grievance  that 
is  a  fit  object  of  redress  by 
mob  law. 

53 


p 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THERE  may  sometimes 
be  ungenerous  at- 
tempts to  keep  a 
young  man  down; 
and  they  will  succeed,  too,  if 
he  allows  his  mind  to  be 
diverted  from  its  true  channel 
to  brood  over  the  attempted 
injury.  Cast  about,  and  see  if 
this  feeling  has  not  injured 
every  person  you  have  ever 
known  to  fall  into  it. 

We   cannot   escape    history. 


■A 


54 


m 


m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THERE  are  few  things 
wholly  evil  or  wholly 
good.  Almost  every 
thing,  especially  of 
governmental  policy,  is  an  in- 
separable compound  of  the 
two ;  so  that  our  best  judgment 
of  the  preponderance  between 
them  is  continually  demanded. 

Your  thousand  pretenses  for 
not  getting  along  better  are 
all  nonsense ;  they  deceive 
nobody  but  yourself. 


55 


Pi  1^ 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  leading  rule  for 
the  lawyer,  as  for  the 
man  of  every  other 
calling,  is  diligence. 
Leave  nothing  for  to-morrow 
which  can  be  done  to-day. 
Never  let  your  correspondence 
fall  behind.  Whatever  piece 
of  business  you  have  in  hand, 
before  stopping,  do  all  the 
labor  pertaining  to  it  which 
can  then  be  done. 

The    majority  should    rule. 


^ 


56 


^1  1-^ 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  will  of  God  pre- 
vails. In  great  con- 
tests each  party  claims 
to  act  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  God.  Both 
may  be,  and  one  must  be, 
wrong.  God  cannot  be  for 
and  against  the  same  thing  at 
the  same  time. 

Men  are  not  flattered  by 
being  shown  that  there  has  been 
a  difi^erence  of  purpose  between 
the  Almighty  and  them. 

57 


iPi  m 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WHILE  the  people 
retain  their  virtue 
and  vigilance,  no 
administration,  by 
any  extreme  wickedness  or 
folly,  can  very  seriously  injure 
the  Government  in  the  short 
space  of  four  years. 

Time  alone  releases  a  debtor 
nation,  so  long  as  its  popula- 
tion increases  faster  than  un- 
paid interest  accumulates  on 
its  debt. 


^ 


SB 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WHAT  is  the  in- 
fluence of  fashion 
but  the  influence 
that  other  people's 
actions  have  on  our  actions  — 
the  strong  inclination  each  of 
us  feels  to  do  as  we  see  all  our 
neighbors  do? 

If  destruction  be  our  lot  we 
must  ourselves  be  its  author 
and  finisher.  As  a  nation  of 
freemen  we  must  live  through 
all  time,  or  die  by  suicide. 

59 


IPI  11 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WITH  public  senti- 
ment, nothing  can 
fail;  without  it 
nothing  can  suc- 
ceed. Consequently,  he  who 
moulds  public  sentiment,  goes 
deeper  than  he  who  enacts 
statutes  or  pronounces  decisions. 
He  makes  statutes  and  decisions 
possible  or  impossible  to  be 
executed. 

I  can  bear  censure,  but  not 
insult 


^ 


60 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WHENEVER  I  hear 
anyone  arguing  for 
slavery,    I     feel     a 
strong    impulse    to 
see  it  tried  on  him  personally. 

Stand  by  your  principles, 
stand  by  your  guns,  and  victory, 
complete  and  permanent,  is 
sure  at  the  last. 

Nothing  is  so  local  as  not  to 
be  of  some  general  benefit. 

61 


f  I  If 

WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WOULD    you    drop 
the    war    where  it 
is?    or  would  you 
prosecute     it    in 
future  with  elder -stalk  squirts 
charged  with  rose-water? 

Determine  that  the  thing 
can  and  shall  be  done,  and  then 
we  shall  find  the  way. 

The  struggle  of  to-day  is  not 
altogether  for  to-day:  it  is  for 
a  vast  future  also. 


It 


1 


62 


p 


q 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 

FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WE    all    declare  for 
liberty;  but  in  using 
the  same  word   we 
do   not   all    mean 
the  same  thing. 

Shall  he  who  cannot  do 
much  be  for  that  reason  ex- 
cused if  he  do  nothing  ? 

If  the  end  brings  me  out 
all  right,  what  is  said  against 
me  won't  amount  to  anything. 

^\  =^ 

63 


Pi  ffl 


WORLDLY  WISDOM 
FROM  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

YOU  will  find  that  all 
the  arguments  in 
favor  of  king-craft 
were  of  this  class; 
that  they  always  bestrode  the 
necks  of  the  people,  not  be- 
cause they  wanted  to  do  it,  but 
because  the  people  were  better 
off  for  being  ridden. 

Is  it  the  true  test  of  the 
soundness  of  a  doctrine,  that 
in  some  places  people  won*t 
let  you  proclaim  it  ? 


LJ 


d 


64 


X  l^IK  X 


